Police stopped 15-year-old who was driving car

When police stopped a vehicle during a routine check they found it was being driven by a 15-year-old boy, Banbridge Magistrates Court heard last Thursday.

Anthea Steele (22), Kilnhill Road, Ballyward, was fined £150 and given six points for permitting him to drive without insurance on May 11 this year.

She was also fined £200 and ordered to pay a £15 offender’s levy for allowing him to drive while he was not old enough to obtain a licence.

The court heard that in the early hours of the morning, around 3.30am, police stopped a vehicle in the Banbridge area.

They discovered the driver was a 15-year-old boy and he was accompanied by the defendant. She accepted she knew the age of the boy and that he was not old enough to hold a licence. She had asked him to drive.

A solicitor representing Steele said she had a row with her boyfriend and the 15-year-old boy was a friend.

He added that she knew the boy had been brought up on a farm and was used to vehicles. The journey had been about two to three miles.